Gibbs on Stewart's Cramer Interview: 'I Enjoyed It Thoroughly'

By Scott Wilson
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs waded Friday into the cable-television debate between satirist Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show" and CNBC's Jim Cramer, whom Stewart has been skewering on his show for making a series of stock market predictions that proved wrong during Wall Street's meltdown.

The confrontation has managed for days to be simultaneously serious and hilarious. The two came face to face Thursday when Cramer, a former hedge fund manager who hosts CNBC's "Mad Money," made an appearance on Stewart's show.

Gibbs was asked if the president saw the interview, which some journalists described as very tough on Cramer, who often appeared flustered and defensive.

"I enjoyed it thoroughly despite, even as Mr. Stewart said, that it may have been uncomfortable to conduct and uncomfortable to watch," Gibbs said during the daily White House briefing. "I thought somebody asked a lot of tough questions, and I am not surprised that the video of Mr. Cramer's appearance doesn't appear on CNBC's website today."

Colbert actually roasted the MSM (some would say more than he did Bush) at the White House Correspondents Dinner. I won't hold my breath that anyone will ever ask Gibbs about a Quo Warranto action against Obama though.

I only wish Jon Stewart had highlighted the real problem with television news media in this country. It used to be that the news divisions at the networks weren't expected to turn a profit - they were expected to do good journalism and reporting and the networks were willing to pick up the tab. All of that went out of the window with the advent of 24/7 cable news networks who had to move from true journalism and reporting to what I call 'infotainment' in order to pay the bills. Since then, television news outlets have been more concerned with making a buck than with quality journalism and reporting. We the people have all been done a disservice as a result. We need to return to an emphasis on quality investigative journalism and reporting and a deemphasis on the flash and glitz designed to drive ratings numbers and profit margins.

JakeD-
I like Colbert myself, but I know he's a satirist. Neocon ideology is so ridiculous that it's true believers sometimes can't detect its parodies, as when Colbert was invited to participate in a W roast, which turned into an embarassment for the Bush administration.

I'm plesanlty surprised that the corporate media have even covered the exchange between Stewart and Cramer, since it lays the blame for misinforming investors (and voters) at the corporate media's feet, where it belongs.

While entertaining neither of these guys is going to provide squat in terms of principled and valued input on the hidden cancerous tumor eating our political economic system: the "economics of empire" --- with its latest metastasis of theft via 'negative externality cost displacement' (that's what was done by these imperialist, ruling-elite crooks with their destructive 'innovation' of 'debt bombs').

Get serious. Follow the money. And 'the money' is gamed by an inverted “economy of empire” which very temporarily sustains itself (like Bernie’s PONZI) through negative externality cost dumping. Fortunately, Obama knows this and is ‘getting it done’ by shutting down the ruling-elite Empire’s expropriation of wealth ‘gravy train’ on the UBS express.

The “economics of Empire” is an economics of the Ponzi ---- which is to say, “it’s not economics at all but rather looting --- just as economics Nobel laureate, George Akerlof said back in 2002 of the Bush administration’s government policy: “This is not normal government economic policy, but rather a form of looting”.

Yes, George, not only the economic policy of empire is “looting”, but the entire political-economic and geopolitical policy of any government which has morphed into empire (like ours) is nothing but looting and hierarchical power preservation.

All Empires have always been such and always will be. A people and their country can never reform empire (just like you can’t reform scorpions or cancer --- since it’s in their nature), but ‘the people’ can only successfully diagnose and excise the cancer of empire.

It’s well past time for the continuation of the American Revolution against this ‘Vichy’ Empire hidden within our own land. While it’s more difficult to detect than the old Empire of King George and his highly visible ‘Red Coats’, the leading of our minute-men have already studied the pathology report and completed the diagnosis of this hidden empire’s metastasis and now the call has already gone out to the skilled and patriotic surgeons. “To arms, to arms, all ye minute-men surgeons”.

“One if by see, and two if by guile”

“The Empire is coming. The empire is coming. To arms minute-men, the empire is HERE.”

I have always thought there is two universes : one for the masses and the other for the moeny people. The masses are fed all the BS about buy/hold while the money people like the hedge funds do exactly the opposite - trade like crazy. A friend of mine complained he got caught on an even bigger Ponzi scheme than Madoff's and that is the stock market.

You didn't actually watch the interview, did you? It was no joke. Stewart showed exactly how greed, dishonesty, and implicit collusion between big business and business media smoked all our 401(k)'s. He reflected the outrage of every person who has seen their retirement plans evaporate, and of every honest homeowner unfairly blamed for wrecking the economy. It was an important event. The Obama administration wasn't paying attention to be hip, they were paying attention because it's their job to know about important stuff going on in the country.

sad really, that the leaders of our country feel the need to stoop to the level of a cable comedy host. come on, is the obama white house so concerned with being hip that it must comment on this kind of crap? ridiculous, and the fact that gibbs said he had no problem watching it, meaning he enjoyed seeing an uncomfortable conversation between two people who are NOT ELECTED OFFICIALS. why is this worth serious discussion? you know, i heard some real scathing stuff over at PerezHilton we should focus on.....

Name ONE Republican who said he / she wanted to "eliminate" Social Security. If we just passed the bottom of the DJIA, there probably isn't a better time to invest a portion of your Social Security into the market. Next canard?

Entertaining and informative! We are more informed by a comedian than we are by journalists and entertained at the same time. Now that is First Amendment justice! You go Jon Stewart - entertain us and inform us at the same time!